Toupee.



L. S. SAMUEL.

TOUPEE.

FILED D APPLICATIO (L11, 1912. 1,148,539. Patented Aug. 3, 1915.

INVENTOR LEOPOLD S. SAMUEL, OF NEWARK, JERSEY.

TOUPEE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 3, 1915.

I Application filed December 11, 1912. Serial No. 736,067.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEOPOLD S. SAMUEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Toupees; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled. in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, and to figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a toupee and is designed to provide a toupee that is natural in its appearance due to a springiness that is imparted to the hair by the construction.

As heretofore made, toupees are formed on a base into which the hairs are knitted a few at a time, which labor is slow and very tedious. To overcome this difficulty in the manufacture of toupees I have constructed a toupee which does not require the knitting process, and a toupee which is made in a manner that permits its manufacture by any one with very little practice.

The invention consists in a toupee which is made by placing the hair in groups or strips so that they are attached at their inner ends, then affixing the strips or groups to a backing, the attaching of the groups or strips to the backing being made by an adhesive that is water proof and that withstands the action of gasolene and similar cleaning materials.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a view showing one means of attaching the hairs to" an adhesive or a binder so that the group or strip can be handled as a unit. Fig. 2 is a section through Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a view showing two groups in afliXed position on a backing. Fig. 4: is a section through a toupee made according to my method and embodying my construction, and Fig. 5v is a section through a toupee of modified form.

In the manufacture of my toupee I prefer to make the base 10 as shown in Figs. 3, 4: and 5, that is, of netting o-r gauze, as it is cooler, but other material can be used so long as it has the required strength and flexibility, the strip being of any shape according to the location that the toupee is to occupy. I prefer to provide the base with a lining 11 so that a smooth surface is presented tothe skin where the toupee is to be worn. In preparing the hair I provide a surface 12 which is nonporous and is substantially smooth, a good material being a sheet of glass, and by means of an adhesive 13, such as a pyroxylin solution, I fasten the hairs 14 to form a group or strip, the hairs being put on in the desired quantity so as to make the hair either thick or thin, rubbed down on the attached ends so as to make a flat strip or edge and allowed to thoroughly dry. I prefer the pyroxylin compound because it is water proof and also re sists the action of gasolene and similar cleaning compounds which are preferable for the cleaning of toupees and the like.

When the required number of groups with which the toupee is to be supplied has been treated as shown in Fig. 1, or are formed by any other means in a group with an adhesive of this type, the adhesive 13 with the hairs can be removed from the surface 12 by running a knife-blade alon the top of the sheet of glass, and the hairs in the group 1 are held tightly together and can be used as a unit in fastening them to the base 10.

In Fig. 3 I show two groups placed side by side on the base 10, these groups being fastened to the base after the excess material around the secured end 15 of the hairs in the group 14: has been cut away so as to remove the sharp and uneven edges. The ends 15 thus form a binding end to the group and can be used as shown in the figures, or if necessary can be supplied with additional binding for the groups by means of the ends 15 being fastened to the netting by pyroxylin solution or other adhesive, although pyroxylin is preferred.

The strips or groups are either placed in line or staggered and can even be arranged irregularly to bring about the desired effect that is required in the toupee, the groups being arranged as in Fig. 4 to'extend on two sides of a part when necessary to cover the top of the head, and the front and back portions being properly directed so that their ends will extend to give the natural direction the hair has on the head. The groups or strips are preferably arranged shingled, one overlapping the one next below so as to give the natural effect, this being shown more particularly in Fig. 4 where the ends 15 of successive groups are shown one above the other, and as many groups can be put on as required so as to make the toupee as full as desired. If a slight coating of pyroxylin solution is given to the hair it is given a better spring, that is, it has life which false hair very often is lacking.

In Fig. 4: I show the inner groups, and by inner I mean those groups next to the part arranged in reverse direction so that the affixed ends 15 extend from each other to form the part 16, and when the hairs of the groups 14L next to the part are bent backward on their binding edges they have a fiuffy quality due to their being turned over on the separated ailixed ends 15.

In Fig. 5 is shown a modified means of attaching the groups, the attaching means consisting of a plaited strip 17 which is provided with successive plaits 18, the plaits receiving the ends 15 of the groups 14;, the groups being pasted within the plaits by the affixing solution, such as pyroxylin. The inner plaits 19 are arranged so that they face toward each other, thus fastening the ends 15 of the groups next to the part in reverse direction so that their respective groups 14 have a fluffy appearance.

A toupee made according to my invention can be cleaned with soap and water, gasolene or other cleaning materials without any loss of hair or any loosening of the hair in the toupee, since the pyroxylin solution will resist the action of these cleaning materials.

It will be understood that by binding agent in this specification I mean any material that can be used for holding the hairs in groups, preferably in wide, fiat groups.

The groups of hair are arranged in regular or irregular layers as desired, by irregular being meant, a staggered arrangement.

In a toupee made in this manner I may replace certain portions thereof, such as the front part of the toupee, in case the hair of the wearer changes color after he has had the toupee some time, and the removal and affixing of groups of hair or parts of the toupee is easy and can be quickly accomplished. This does away with the necessity of replacing the whole toupee by a new one by the wearers hair turning grayer or whiter.

In the construction shown in Fig. 5 the plaits can be arranged in regular lines or in irregular lines and can be extended across Copies of this patent may be obtained for the front and back to project the hairs that are fastened between the plaits from the front and back.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A. toupee comprising a base, an adhesive, and independent groups of hairs, each group secured at one end to the adhesive, the groups being disposed on and attached to the base by the adhesive.

2. A toupee comprising a base, a waterproof binder, and independent narrow groups of hairs secured at one end to said binder, the groups being attached to the base by adhesive and being so disposed that they overlap.

3. A. toupee consisting'of a backing, a water-proof binder, groups of hairs bound at one end by said binder, the groups being arranged on said backing so that they overlap with the innermost groups on top, the groups that abut to form the part being attached in reverse direction and folded over to give them a spring.

4. A toupee comprising a base, independent groups of hairs, each group having the hairs at one end thereof secured by an adhesive and each group secured to the base, the toupee having a part thegroups adjacent to the part being folded so that their loose ends and their attached ends both extend outward, the groups not adjacent to the part being arranged with only their loose ends projecting outward.

5. In a toupee, hairs and a base having its upper surface plaited, the plaits receiving the hairs. v

6. In a toupee, a basecomprising an up per layer, the upper'layer being plaited with plaits opening toward each other at that portion of the toupee which is to form the part and having plaits flanking the part portion, the last-mentioned plaits opening away from each other, and hairs arranged in the plaits'and extending from the open portions thereof.

7 In a toupee, a base having suitably disposed inclined recesses onits top surface, hairs arranged with one end in the recesses, the upper wall of one recess being the lower wall of the next adjacent.

v In testimony, that I claim the foregoing, I have hereunto set my hand this 9th day of December 1912.

' LEOPOLD S. SAMUEL. Witnesses: I

WM. I-I. CAMFIELD,

M. A. JOHNSON.

Washington, D. G. 

